Gold has big year in 2020 and outlook for this year robust. Learn about monetary expansion and gold future prices.Read More
The gold futures price reached US$1,767/ounce this week before retreating, which was the second time it has surpassed US$1,760 in the past two months, marking some of gold's highest levels in several years.Read More
A summary of Rio Tinto's results for the full year 2020, to December 31, and its new emissions reduction goals. In brief Rio Tinto generated $15.9 billion net cash from operating activities in 2020, 6% higher than 2019.The improvement was primarily driven by higher iron ore prices and stability in its operating performance. Rio Tinto's underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation...Read More
The London Metal Exchange has increased oversight of its tin contracts in response to chronically tight spreads despite deliveries into its global warehousing system. Market players paid up to $4,500 per tonne to roll positions between the LME's cash and three-month contracts on Monday February 15, a record amount, while cash prices roared over 10-year highs and futures prices rose by a lesser deg...Read More
The London Metal Exchange base metals prices had a mixed reaction to the dollar index's second daily increase in the morning of Wednesday February 17, with the metals that set new highs on Tuesday - copper and nickel - edging lower while the rest were higher. The dollar index increased to 90.73 at 9am on Wednesday from its reading of 90.55 on Tuesday at the close, with the rise being even more sta...Read More
All future new-build vessels to be owned by shipping operator Maersk will have dual-fuel technology installed, allowing either carbon-neutral operations or the use of standard very low sulfur fuel oil (VLSFO), the company said on Wednesday February 17."Our ambition to have a carbon-neutral fleet by 2050 was a 'moonshot' when we announced it in 2018. Today, we see it as a challenging, yet achievabl...Read More
Sales of passenger cars in the EU dropped by 24.04% year-on-year in January 2021, the European Automotive Manufacturers Association (ACEA) said on Wednesday February 17.New car sales in the EU totaled 726,491 vehicles in January 2021, down from 956,447 units sold in the corresponding month of 2020."In January 2021, the EU passenger car market posted an accelerated decline, as Covid-19-related rest...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-dipped galvanized coil increased in Europe over the week to Wednesday February 17, supported by a material shortage, sources have told Fastmarkets.The bullish mood in the market might be undermined, however, by weaker demand from the automotive industry, market sources said.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel hot-dipped galvanized coil, domestic, exw Northern Eur...Read More
Prices for steel hollow sections in Europe have moved up this week but with feedstock tightness remaining an issue, market sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday February 17.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel sections (medium), domestic, delivered Northern Europe, was ?,?860-880 per tonne ($1,043-1,067) on Wednesday, up from ?,?850-870 per tonne week on week.The price of hot-rolled coil has on...Read More
Recovery hopes tied into the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines and some brighter economic data has driven up bond yields that in turn has lifted the dollar, and that seems to be creating some hesitancy in the metals this morning, Wednesday February 17.* The US Dollar Index is firmer* US 10-year treasury yields have stepped up a gear as recovery is still being priced in* As a barometer, spot gold prices...Read More
Domestic prices for steel hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe have recovered, but were unchanged in the South, over the week to Wednesday February 17, supported by reduced availability, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at ?,?729.00 ($884.19) per tonne on Wednesday, up by ?,?1.50 per tonne from ?,?727.50 per to...Read More
Prices for steel H-beams in Europe have fallen this week, with a four week stalemate ending after mills reduced their offer prices, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday February 17.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel beams, domestic, delivered Northern Europe, was ?,?740-760 ($898-922) per tonne on Wednesday, down from ?,?750-770 per tonne one week earlier."[The cost of] scrap is again...Read More
Trident aims to fill valuable nicheSPONSOREDtrident royaltiesThe TSX and LSE-listed miner reported EBITDA of US$725 million in Q4, beating consensus forecasts of $712 million and well above a forecast by investment bank Jefferies of $643 million.Read More
Neo Lithium moving closer to productionSPONSOREDneo lithiumPantoro charging towards second gold mineSPONSOREDpantoro limitedMaximus ready to resume search for more Wattle Dam richesSPONSOREDmaximus resourcesEnvironmental and social governance (ESG) is critical to the success of miningSPONSOREDonyen corporationRock sampling returned grades as high as 2.9% copper within a copper anomaly of greater t...Read More
Neo Lithium moving closer to productionSPONSOREDneo lithiumPantoro charging towards second gold mineSPONSOREDpantoro limitedMaximus ready to resume search for more Wattle Dam richesSPONSOREDmaximus resourcesEnvironmental and social governance (ESG) is critical to the success of miningSPONSOREDonyen corporationPolyMet continues to litigate that permit in the Minnesota Court of Appeals, in part to d...Read More
Tesla (TSLA) moved below $780.10 completing a double top pattern.Take Two Interactive (TTWO), a NASDAQ 100 stock moved below $191.81 completing a double top pattern.Pre-opening Comments for Wednesday February 17thU.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 5 points in pre-opening trade.Index futures moved lower on inflation fears following release of economic n...Read More
Trident aims to fill valuable nicheSPONSOREDtrident royaltiesAtico said the relief valve, for the pipe which transported material to its tailings facility, had malfunctioned on February 11 "and as a result some material was discharged"."At this point in time, the company does not believe the incident posed any material threat to the health of employees, communities, or the environment," Atico said...Read More
Trident aims to fill valuable nicheSPONSOREDtrident royaltiesThe global activity dispersion index averaged 46.5 in January, sharply lower than the 55.2 recorded in December, with 2020 activity levels said to be remarkably higher than 2019 driven by China's post-pandemic recovery. The January drop was put down to a large decline in European activity levels and continued weakness in North Ameri...Read More
Turkish steel mills have preferred to focus on steel and billet sales so far this week, rather than resuming their deep-sea scrap purchases, market sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday February 17.The mills have stayed away from the deep-sea scrap markets since the end of last week, when two Turkish steelmakers booked US cargoes at $410 per tonne cfr on an HMS 1&2 (80:20) basis.The daily scrap in...Read More
Greater use of scrap in the steelmaking process will be an important step toward achieving a sharp drop in CO2 emissions, the Japan Iron and Steel Federation (Jisf) said."We support and contribute to Japan's ambitious policy of carbon neutrality by 2050 and to that end, the Japanese steel industry will boldly take on the challenge of achieving zero-carbon steel," the federation said on Tuesday Feb...Read More
Seaborne prices were stable on Wednesday February 17 in a muted market, but market participants expect activity to resume when China returns from the New Year break on Thursday. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $166.88 per tonne, unchanged 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $167.25 per tonne, unchanged 58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $152.66 per tonne, unch...Read More
Mining giant BHP has listed high-grade iron ore and ferrous scrap as among the key future trends that will set the tone for the global steelmaking industry in its economic outlook released on Tuesday February 16.High-grade iron ore"High-quality seaborne iron ore fines and direct charge materials such as lump are important abatement sources for the blast furnace (BF)-based steelmaking route," BHP s...Read More